The US Department of Justice has filed a court motion urging the dismissal of a lawsuit against Elon Musk's xAI, arguing that halting a power project tied to its Colossus 2 data centre in Memphis, Tennessee, would threaten national security. The lawsuit, filed in April by the NAACP under the 1963 Clean Air Act, accuses xAI of operating dozens of natural gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, without required permits, exposing hundreds of thousands to pollutants linked to asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems and certain cancers. The NAACP noted that the area affected has a "much larger share" of Black residents compared to the national average. In its motion, filed Monday in a US District Court, the Justice Department claimed the Constitution gives the executive branch sole authority to pursue civil penalties for such violations, calling the NAACP's legal action a threat to "national, economic, and energy security." The government argued that the power supply is essential for artificial intelligence innovation supporting the Department of War's military operations. Adam Gustafson, head of the Justice Department's environment and natural resources division, stated the government would "not sit idly by while private organisations use environmental laws to undermine our national security." Earthjustice, representing the NAACP, called the intervention a "massive power grab" by the Trump administration. Laura Thoms, Earthjustice's enforcement director, said the move attempts to strip communities, courts and Congress of enforcement power. Ann Carlson, an environmental law professor at UCLA School of Law, described the administration's stance as a "brazen attempt" to nullify citizen enforcement of the Clean Air Act, saying it offers no rationale for dismissing congressionally authorized lawsuits. Cameron Stanley, the Pentagon's top AI official, declared under oath that xAI's Grok model helped launch over 2,000 munitions at 2,000 targets in the first 96 hours of the US-Israel war on Iran. Stanley warned that energy supply constraints could "severely impact" Pentagon tools reliant on Grok. xAI, a subsidiary of SpaceX, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration is using national security claims to block a pollution lawsuit that directly affects a predominantly Black community, while asserting exclusive federal control over environmental enforcement. The Justice Department's argument undermines a law that explicitly allows citizens to hold polluters accountable. This intervention shields a private company from legal scrutiny over unpermitted emissions, despite documented health risks. The Pentagon's reliance on xAI's technology is cited as justification for overriding public health concerns.
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